Trump Asked for a 30-Foot Washington Statue. He Doesn't Run the Smithsonian.

He also wants an exhibit for Washington's 300th birthday and a "Center for American Heroes" at the history museum.

President Donald Trump asked the Smithsonian to install two George Washington statues at its history museum in Washington, D.C., one of them 30 feet tall. The requests came in late-night posts on Truth Social on Friday, September 11, 2026, the Associated Press reported.

The 30-foot Washington would displace "Infinity," an abstract sculpture by the New York artist Jose de Rivera. The federal government commissioned it, and it's stood at the National Museum of American History since 1967.

The smaller request has a date on it. Trump wanted an 11-foot Washington — the one displayed at the Freedom 250 IndyCar race — set up in the museum's Flag Hall for Constitution Day, September 17. He also asked for a special exhibit honoring the first president, beginning now and running to February 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington's birth.

"He is easily America's Greatest Hero. Without him, our Country and our Freedoms wouldn't exist," Trump wrote as he flew to his golf course in Ireland, according to the AP. He complained that the museum doesn't mention Washington's crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War.

He also wanted the museum's recently ended Center for Restorative History — an initiative built around stories left out of the standard national account — replaced by a "Center for American Heroes."

Whether he can compel any of it is an open question.

The Smithsonian Institution operates outside the executive branch. A Board of Regents oversees its leadership, and its members include Vice President JD Vance and Chief Justice John Roberts, along with lawmakers from both parties and a group of citizens.

The pressure isn't new. In March, Trump signed an executive order targeting Smithsonian funding for programs the order described as advancing "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology," the AP reported.

A White House report published this year returned repeatedly to the charge that the institution had done too little with Washington and the other founders. In July, he directed his administration to post signs outside the history museum telling visitors that some exhibits are inaccurate.

The institution is changing hands at the same time. Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian's top leader, said in the same week that he's stepping down at the end of the year.

Statues keep turning up in the president's plans for the capital. He wants a park along the Potomac River displaying statues of 250 prominent Americans, and he's already put a Washington on the remodeled patio off the Rose Garden. Constitution Day is September 17.

Source: pbs.org, retrieved September 13, 2026.